Intel reinstates advertising on Gamasutra after 'Gamergate' campaign

Intel has reinstated its advertising with Gamasutra, following an email
campaign by Gamergate supporters

Intel has reinstated its advertising with Gamasutra, one of the websites at the centre of the Gamergate controversy. The company had withdrawn it in October, following an email campaign by Gamergate supporters.

Gamergate started as a harassment campaign against feminist game developers on discussion sites 4chan, Reddit and Twitter, and developed into an email-writing group, targeting advertisers on gaming and game developer websites who had run articles on the changing demographics of video game players around the end of August this year. These articles were seen by Gamergate as an attack on video gaming as a hobby rather than comments on its wider appeal.

Gamasutra, which is aimed at developers rather than players, had published the first of these,"'Gamers' don’t have to be your audience, 'Gamers' are over" by Leigh Alexander, and so faced a large portion of Gamergate’s anger. Intel’s decision to remove their advertising was talked about as a big step towards their aim of starving the website of income and forcing its closure.

Since Intel’s adverts reappeared debate had been raging between Gamergate supporters on Twitter over whether or not they were deliberately placed or there accidentally as part of Google’s AdSense programme. The company have now confirmed that they are indeed a deliberate placement.

A spokesman for Intel said: "We have resumed advertising on the game developer site Gamasutra. As we have said in the past, it was not our intent to take a position in the current controversy surrounding the gaming community. We have a long history of support for gaming and game developer communities, and Gamasutra's audience is an important constituency."